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Hire a car for Sitia in Crete
Sitia lies at the western end of the bay of the same name, in the far East of  Crete's north coast. Counting some 9,000 inhabitants, the town is after  Ierapetra and  Aghios Nicolaos the smallest of the three cities in the governmental district of Lassithi. Crete's easternmost town spreads from the port up the slope of Vamvakia peninsula.
		Above there is the international airport of Sitia (JSH) which however is used only for domestic flights as yet. From the port, a narrow sandy beach runs along the bay to it's eastern tip. Excavations in the town's surroundings show that the area is inhabited since about 3,500 B.C.
The foundation of Sitia falls into the first Byzantine epoch. The small fortress named Kasarma was raised during the Venetian epoch. In 1651, Sitia was conquered by the Turks and almost completely destroyed. More than 200 years later the first new inhabitants began to rebuild the town.
		The promenade that flanks the port was re-designed some years ago, and today ranks as one of Crete's most beautiful ones. Whenever a ship to Rhodes or other islands leaves the port, the sirens' echos resound from all the mountains which frame the bay of Sitia. Sitia's surroundings present the island's most diversified landscapes.
The inhabitants now began to use the beauty of the town and the nature for developing a leisure type of event tourism. The local travel agency Itanos Tours prepared a program that e.g. includes hikes in small ravines with caves and a waterfall, fishing excursions with a genuine fishing-boat, or - depending on the season of the year - participation in the making of wine, olive oil etc.
Text by Ingo H. Dietrich Photos by Matthias Konopka & Ingo H. Dietrich